S.J. schools prepare for the worst

STOCKTON - Twenty-four years later, memories of the 1989 Cleveland School massacre still linger like a bad dream in Stockton, resurfacing with news of every schoolyard shooting.

Jason Anderson

STOCKTON - Twenty-four years later, memories of the 1989 Cleveland School massacre still linger like a bad dream in Stockton, resurfacing with news of every schoolyard shooting.

The deaths of 26 people last month at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., and Tuesday's shooting at Lone Star College in Houston have heightened concerns among teachers and school administrators, authorities said. Law enforcement officials routinely train for active-shooter situations, but now, more educators are asking what they can do to save lives if a gunman opens fire on school grounds.

"Right now, they're scared, and they want to know how they can better prepare themselves for these types of situations," said Lt. James Lenzi of the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office, which is sending SWAT teams to schools to share information with educators.

"We have deputies going out and doing seminars, telling people, 'This is what you need to look for. These are security measures you need to take. This is how you need to react to give the most people the best chance at survival.' People want reassurances, and this makes them feel a little safer knowing how they can protect themselves and their students."

Lenzi said the Sheriff's Office is planning a free seminar on active-shooter scenarios. The seminar could be in the next month or so and is expected to draw hundreds of school and law enforcement officials, Lenzi said.

The Stockton Police Department also has fielded calls from a number of schools since the Sandy Hook shooting, said Lt. Ivan Rose, a SWAT commander. Rose said officers work with teachers and administrators to establish protocols for school shootings.

"Schools are given training on how to respond to an active-shooter situation very similar to the way they're given training for natural disasters, such as earthquakes or fires," Rose said.

In addition to consulting with school officials, Stockton police officers and San Joaquin County sheriff's deputies take Advanced Officer Training courses to keep themselves prepared for active-shooter scenarios and other situations. Members of both departments are reviewing active-shooter tactics, authorities said. The reviews include classroom training and simulations involving role players, Rose said.

"We want to make sure their tactics are sound and they know exactly what to do when they respond to these incidents," Lenzi said. "The SWAT team trains on active-shooter scenarios nonstop year-round, and they're the best at it, but we have to make sure our patrol staff is confident and capable, too. They're going to be the first ones there. We're going to go in there as fast as we can and save as many lives as possible."

Rose and Lenzi said most law enforcement agencies have adopted more aggressive tactics for active-shooter scenarios since the Columbine High School shooting in 1999. At Columbine, where Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold murdered 12 students and one teacher and wounded 21 others, authorities followed traditional law enforcement tactics, surrounding the location, establishing a perimeter and containing the damage. Now, first responders are trained to seek out and neutralize the threat as quickly as possible.

"The traditional tactics were found to be ineffective in these active-shooter situations when the purpose of the suspects is to hurt people," Rose said. "The tactic we deploy now is called Immediate Deployment and Rapid Intervention, and that is basically just what it sounds like. If you respond to an active-shooter incident, you deploy and you move to that threat, and then you intervene in whatever way is appropriate to contain the situation."

In the Cleveland School shooting Jan. 17, 1989, gunman Patrick Purdy killed five children and wounded 29 others before killing himself. Purdy's murderous rampage received national news coverage and raised public awareness about school shootings, much as the Sandy Hook shooting has in recent weeks.

"We had the Cleveland School shooting here, which was a horrible tragedy, so in Stockton we're no stranger to these types of events," Rose said. "It can happen anywhere, and it has happened here, so people need to be aware of it."